Soldierbucket Infantry Challenge

IMAGE REMOVED BY ADMINISTRATION AS IT IS VIOLATING THE FORUM AND COMMUNITY RULES
Rifle squad and M69A2 "Bobson" Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle, "Bussy Breaker", Track #69 3/B/2-420 CAV, 420th Armored Cavalry Regiment, V "Victory" Corps, United States Army, Operation "Azure Skies", 2024

At midnight on 14 May 2028, the U.S. Space Force's NUDET detection system picked up a dozen gamma-ray double flashes in the Upper Peninsula. These were concentrated in the vicinity of Iron Mountain-Norway-Niagra area, the Marquette-Ishpeming-Sawyer AFB area, Wakefield, Iron River/Caspian, and Escanaba. Heavy cloud cover from Winter Storm Horace prevented satellite reconnaissance from attaining visual information on the flashes. The size of the flash gave an estimate of 1-2 kilotons per event. Acoustic seismographs operated by the U.S. Air Force Atomic Energy Detection System picked up the bursts as far away as Hawaii and estimated each event was actually closer to 5-10 kilotons, indicating that whatever had occurred had likely transferred large amounts of energy into the Earth. NUDET flash messages were sent across DOD bases in CONUS.

All Internet, telecommunications, and wireless signals ceased throughout the Upper Peninsula, parts of Northern Wisconsin including Green Bay, portions of Southern Ontario including Ottawa, a large majority of the the Lower Peninsula, and parts of northern Ohio, due to a combination of EMP and power surges destroying several major substations.

Within minutes the President was awoken and pulled into a meeting with the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs, Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of Energy, and appraised of the situation. As no ballistic missiles had been detected by the U.S. Space Force, nor incoming ICBMs by the U.S. Air Force's AN/FPQ-16 EPARCS, the conclusion reached was that this was a terrorist or saboteur action.

The governors of Wisconsin and Michigan declared states of emergency and mobilized their Guard units. Truax Field, near Madison, Wisconsin, and Battle Creek Air Force Base, operating under Immediate Response Authority, scrambled a flight of F-35 Lightnings from the 176th Fighter Squadron of the Wisconsin Air National Guard. The 110th Attack Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard deployed four MQ-9 reconnaissance drone aircraft to the UP, with nuclear MASINT gear.

Within an hour of the NUDET flash, the Joint Chiefs, under Presidential authority, put all CONUS U.S. forces to DEFCON 2 and overseas garrisons to DEFCON 3. The President announced a state of emergency for much of the U.S. Midwest on television, Facebook, Twitch, Youtube, and Netflix Live. The National Guards of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, and Michigan were federalized under Title 32. The governors of New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Nebraska, both Dakotas, Iowa, Chicago, and Illinois also began mobilizing some of their Guards to provide aid.

To provide eyes for Air Defense Command, the U.S. Air Force scrambled three E-3 Sentry AWACS out of Tinker Air Force Base and several KC-135s out of Milwaukee. F-16Cs of the Minnesota Air National Guard out of Duluth were placed on ramp alerts. The 34th Infantry Division mobilized its combat aviation brigade to transport supplies and people in Northern Wisconsin, while the 32nd Separate Stryker Brigade began a road march northwards, bringing 5-tons and Stryker AFVs carrying MREs and water. CBRN reconnaissance troops in Stryker NBCRVs moved north towards Iron Mountain along I-41 to map any radiological clouds or fallout. Meanwhile, C-130Js and C-17s of Air Mobility Command were loaded with power generators, blankets, and radiation tablets, among other necessary supplies, and were hastily put airborne by 0200.

By 0220, the MQ-9s and F-35s had crossed into the UP. While perhaps expecting to see mushroom clouds, the pilots instead reported...nothing. Literally. Instead of glowing craters where the NUDET flashes had been spotted, where several small towns once were there were only large, dark hemispheres, appearing colder than the sky on FLIRs. Radioing this back to their airbases, the F-35 pilots were even more surprised when they saw things come out of the spheres: aircraft. A tremendous stream of jets poured out of every bubble in the UP. Dozens of arrowhead shaped fighters and large swing-wing aircraft, flying low level, with bombs under their wings, afterburners lit, streaked through the skies towards Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Dayton, and Ottawa.

Within a few minutes the E-3s that had been launched confirmed at least 97 bogies over North Wisconsin and heading south in the direction of Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Madison. Another 126 were moving over the Great Lakes towards lower Michigan, towards Detroit, and to Ohio, probably towards Wright-Patterson. All aircraft were flying low level, evidently to evade radar detection, and moving at nearly 600 miles an hour. Several higher altitude escorts, periodically knocking a radar station offline, or taking down tactical helicopters, provided combat air patrols and anti-radar support.

Signals intercepts determined that enemy pilots were speaking English, with American accents. The pilots were using something akin to brevity code words when firing weapons, and operating on Link-16 frequencies. NCTR from F-35s confirmed that at least some of the aircraft were F-16 Block 40/42s, F-111Fs, and a mixture of F-15As or -Cs and Strike Eagles. Waveform analysis of the radars and jamming equipment used indicated that ALQ-99(V)s, APG-70s, and APG-63s were among the most common active sensors, although some appeared to have drifted from specified outputs, possibly due to poor maintenance.

The 110th's airborne MQ-9 Reapers were destroyed with minutes over Lake Superior after being locked up by a flight of escort fighters firing some variety of Sparrow missile. While heavy electronic barrage jamming prevented the E-3s from accurately sizing up the enemy, as many of the formations appeared to be nothing but large blobs on operators' scopes, a rough estimate based on visual and radar information gleaned from F-35As provided that each individual target was being hit by as many as 30 or 40 strike aircraft. As the packages split, it became more obvious that the targets were the closest tactical fighter bases and several major regional airfields, including Milwaukee, Duluth, St. Paul, and Wright-Patterson. Opposing these strike fighters were a mere dozen sleepy F-35s and the 24 F-16C Blk 50/52s of the Minnesota Air National Guard.

Emergency alerts provided to Madison by air battle managers managed to save about a third of the Panthers from being destroyed on the ground when the strikers arrived, although Truax would be knocked out by a combination of runway cratering bombs, mine dispensers, and sticks of iron bombs dropped on pilots' barracks. Milwaukee International was hit shortly afterwards, with the runway being cratered by several large swing-wing bombers using rocket bombs, and several ANG KC-135Rs strafed by cannon fire. Airliners and the civil terminal were spared damage aside from splinter.

Battle Creek and Selfridge Air Force Bases reported being under attack by bombers around 20 minutes later. A small force of tactical bombers, about 30 in total, were engaged by eight F-16Cs from the 180th Wing of the Ohio ANG, under direction of an E-3 Sentry. Despite inflicting losses on the enemy strikers, including downing tactical bombers that were lining up bomb runs on Toledo's fighter ramp, CAP escort of the bomber force forced the F-16s to turn back as several enemy F-15s engaged them in combat.

At 0318 NORTHCOM commander, after consulting with NORAD and the Canadian Forces, who confirmed that CFB Trenton, North Bay, and Kingston had been hit each by two waves of aircraft, which destroyed multiple transport helicopters with cluster bombs and knocked out the runways, radars, and several barracks with iron bombs. An Air Defense Emergency was declared by NORAD.

At 0320 the President was briefed, and 10 minutes later declared a state of national emergency. Under advisement of the Joint Chiefs, NORTHCOM gained V U.S. Corps, I U.S. Corps, and the bulk of the National Guard was brought into Title 10 Federalization. All U.S. forces were brought to DEFCON 2 and Global Strike Command ordered the B-52 force to commence an emergency dispersion, fearing another wave of enemy strike aircraft may attempt counter-force attacks against the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Intermittent air action continued through the next eight hours, as enemy fighters zipped through the portals, establishing defensive CAPs across the barrier. Periodic incursions by E-3 Sentries and KC-10 Extenders were noted.

By dawn, 14 May, the U.S. Air Force had switched to keeping enemy strikers away from its primary operating bases in the Midwest while building up airpower. Air superiority couldn't readily be challenged while the enemy operated with impunity in U.S. airspace, and this was enabled by his use of E-3 Sentries, air refueling, and large fighter CAPs. Although inferior in capability to the U.S. Air Force's F-15EXs and F-16C Block 50/52s, the sheer quantity of trained pilots made offensive combat operations difficult at best. For any one American engagement, the outcome was typically about 1 or 1.2 fighters lost, and more if attempting to knock out an airbase. NORTHCOM transferred several F-35 squadrons, including Marine Corps units, from Vermont, Utah, Texas, and New York. F-22s from the 1st Fighter Wing arrived at Wright-Patterson within hours.

The 34th Infantry Division's two armored brigades were still mobile on rails when it received word that Madison and Milwaukee had been hit. The 32nd Stryker Brigade and 2nd Infantry Brigade of the 34th were in Northern Wisconsin, without air cover, although evidently not considered a priority target for the enemy. Duluth was still operational, and its contingent of F-16s, and the railhead would still be established at Minneapolis, but it was clear that the enemy was likely to advance in the coming hours.

Around midday, slate grey helicopters, appearing to be Hueys and Sea Stallions, descended near Calumet Radar Station. Troops clad in futuristic body armor and wearing patches with 13 stars arranged similar to the Cowpens Flag, instead of the normal 52, had quickly established a perimeter and interred the FAA radar personnel. The radar antenna was destroyed by a satchel charge, while the transmitter and computer components were seized and immediately evacuated. Similar scenes played out on several Michigan and Wisconsin radar sites, to varying degrees: sometimes the radar was simply bombed by an airplane. Other times an attack helicopter appeared, or a tank. The enemy had begun to move in its ground troops, now that the air was clear, and establish a beachhead in the Upper Peninsula.

Mechanized troops in grey LAV-25s began road marches into Northern Wisconsin. Supported by armed Huey gunships, they found themselves engaged in combat against the Dragoon Strykers of the 32nd Brigade, and .50 caliber armed FMTV 5-tons and M230LF JLTVs of the 2nd Infantry Brigade. The Red Arrows, already aware of the threat, had prepared numerous ambushes with Javelin missiles, anti-tank mines, and Mobile Gun Systems. The enemy, apparently taken aback by the resistance, often retreated and called in large quantities of field artillery on fire positions. FASCAM minefields, deployed by enemy howitzers, quickly swept away any attackers who stood still. Despite knocking out at least a battalion's worth of light armor, the enemy kept up the pressure.

As Winter Storm Horace pressed down over the coming day, the enemy continued to build up his forces. Despite his outdated aircraft, lack of modern MRAPs, and seemingly lack of Apache-type gunships, the enemy's small arms were impressive, top notch even, resembling the RM277 assault rifles of the 82nd Airborne, and capable of defeating the armor of the Stryker troopers easily.

Through the night and dawn of May 14th and 15th, the 32nd Brigade and 2nd Infantry Brigade fought a running retreat across Northern Wisconsin. Armored forces arrived shortly after dawn on May 15th. In the east, the 1st Armored Brigade and 116th Armored Cavalry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division. In the south, 37th Infantry Brigade of the Ohio Army National Guard and the 78th Infantry Brigade of the Indiana ARNG. The 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment of the Tennessee ARNG was still mobilizing, although the Minnesota Army National Guard was now contributing MLRS of the 34th Infantry Division. Equally good, the Combat Aviation Brigade of the Big Red One had arrived, bringing with it two battalions of Guardian Apaches and RQ-7 TUAS.

1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, 1st Armored Division and 1st Cavalry out of Fort Hood, and the 35th Infantry Division out of Fort Leavenworth were still mobilizing. 35th ID reported it would arrive by nightfall on the 16th, if it drove all day and night. The 82nd Airborne's Division Ready Force had already boarded C-17s at Pope Field and was en route to St. Paul, while the Rangers were allegedly preparing for a raid on Sawyer Air Force Base in the UP.

Thus, while the situation was far from ideal, the enemy appeared to be losing steam already, although this had little tangible effect at the moment. While NORAD, now blind, could no longer look into the UP beyond probing its edges with Sentries and Joint STARS, risking unwanted attention from enemy fighters while the Air Force transferred combat aircraft from the rest of the country to begin a counter-air offensive, already the Midwestern Theater of Operations (MTO) had nearly 100 operational F-35s and F-22s, based out of Duluth and Wright-Patterson. Air Force Reserve squadrons and construction troops had managed to restore Toledo ANGB's 5,500 foot runway, allowing a detachment of half a dozen F-35s to be forward deployed for close air support of the 38th ID's infantry brigades strung along the I-41. The 1st Fighter Wing was conducting offensive counter-air near Madison, despite Truax Field ANGB being damaged, using USR-18 as a advanced fighter base, while Air Mobility Command C-130Js performed resupply and MC-130 Combat Talons provided tactical refueling along the roads. Having done dry runs of such aggressive air combat ops for years in preparation for a war against the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Forces in the Far East, the USAF could stretch its figurative and literal wings against an opponent operating fighters in a similar clade and class as the Su-27S. For now, all that could be done was to wait.

While the iconic A-10 Thunderbolt had been flying some combat missions out of Selfridge ANGB, with the F-15EX provided combat air patrols to protect them, the vulnerability of the A-10 in the low level close air support role was evident. Within two days the 107th Fighter Squadron counted nearly 8 losses of the attack aircraft, predominantly to enemy manportable and infrared guided missiles, the latter appearing to be AIM-9Xs mounted on a Chaparral chassis and the former presumably being an advanced FIM-92 derivative.

As the air combat progressed, POWs captured from the enemy's initial offensive counter-air operation began to trickle into the clutches of the U.S. Army's INSCOM interrogators. Appearing and sounding all the world like good old boys from the Midwest, Texas, or what-have-you state, most of the enemy pilots refused to divulge any sensitive information beyond stating their names, ranks, and serial numbers. Several identification tags and unit patches recovered from a shrubbery, showed what appeared to be an F-111 bombing a giant worm. With the inset stating "917th Tactical Fighter Group - THE BUG BLASTERS", both Air Force and Army intelligence officers were rather confused about the situation. Inquiry about the subject to the captured pilots elicited little in the way of information besides shrugs and nervous coughs.

Over the next two days, the frontlines stabilized several miles north of Milwaukee and 50 miles southeast of Duluth. While Joint STARS provided accurate deep target information of follow-on enemy forces, comprising primarily tanks, the sheer quantity of targets typically overwhelmed the small numbers of strike fighters available. As the enemy still retained some manner of air superiority, although this was slackening with increased flights of Raptors, the ability of aviation to perform interdiction against enemy armor was still haphazard at best.

Operational detachments of the 5th Special Forces Group, deployed to provide reconnaissance and forward observation, raided several enemy brigade headquarters in ambushes. Recovered documents from enemy command post carriers included several field manuals detailing combat action against an unknown alien lifeform, labeled "FM 69-42.0 Military Operations in Xenoform Infested Terrain", and unknown vectronics matching no known JTEDS designations. Unit identification patches resembled those of American brigades, including the 32nd Stryker Brigade (the alternate being an Armored unit), and the 194th Armored Brigade, the latter a division for the alternates. Their flag was adorned with thirteen stars, similar to the Revolutionary War flag, but with a larger central star.

The enemy continued to build up ground forces under the watchful eye of the Joint STARS radar observation, but as their air superiority gave way to air parity, they began to take more drastic measures to change the tide.

By dawn of May 18th, III U.S. Corps had arrived out of Fort Hood and took command of all ground forces in the MTO and was disembarking near Duluth. With it came brigades from the 1st Cavalry Division, the 1st Armored Division, and the 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley. The 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment of the Tennessee Army National Guard had arrived in Milwaukee a day earlier and established an armored lodgment to relieve the beleagured 32nd Stryker Brigade, which had by now lost over a third of its vehicles and almost 10% of its troops in combat.

NORTHCOM prepared an operational fires plan for III Corps, utilizing the 1st Cavalry Division's new M1299 "Super Paladins" and M270 Precision Missile Systems to conduct long range attacks on enemy radar sites. The rapidly evolving enemy EOOB indicated that their air defense systems and jammer systems had been emplaced the night previous, and were constantly being shuffled around to counter Air Force electronic intelligence planners. The plan was set to commence at dusk on May 18th. Unfortunately, this would not happen.

Around 1430 May 18th, the U.S. Space Force's SBIRS-GEO constellation detected half a dozen ballistic missile launch signatures coming from the UP. Incoming threats were classified as Pershing ballistic missiles based on burn signatures and visual identification, with ballistic missile tracks putting them on target to hit Wright-Patterson, Toledo ANGB, Duluth, and Milwaukee; effectively neutralizing the bulk of the USAF's combat power in the MTO. Each warhead packed 10x the blast yield of the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and fallout was expected to be immense.

The President was immediately informed and the Joint Chiefs placed all U.S. forces at DEFCON 1. Conservative estimates placed the immediate death toll of the nuclear attack at nearly 50,000, and at least 10 times as many casualties. Fallout plumes traveled northeast, following Winter Storm Horace, over the Great Lakes and Wisconsin, and mass evacuations of Milwaukee residents towards Iowa were slowing the 3rd Infantry Division's 4th Infantry Brigade of the Georgia Army National Guard. Global Strike Command prepared itself for nuclear combat, launching two squadrons of B-52s and a flight of B-2s on airborne alert in case the enemy attempted a nuclear force decapitation strike. The airborne E-4B assumed general command of the U.S. nuclear forces, while the Army in the field dug itself in. The Vice President was hurried to Raven Rock, assuming the role of designated survivor. If the enemy were willing to nuke what amounted to itself to simply prevent a beachhead from being overrun, there was no telling how far it might escalate. Whoever these Americans claimed to be, they were very different.

Within hours of the nuclear attack, enemy ground troops began to engage Army forces across a broad front. Joint STARS tracked nearly four thousand trucks, tanks, and armored vehicles moving out from the UP, likely the better part of a Corps-sized formation, and E-3s confirmed another large fighter wave, nearly 200 fighters, heading towards Milwaukee and Duluth. With substantially fewer aircraft available, the Army could only dig in and meet the oncoming attack head on.

The Air Force battle managers, who naturally prioritized defense of their tankers and AWACS, could provide relatively little in terms of air support to attrit the enemy forces moving out of Wisconsin. Although the long legged F-35s were present, most of them were simply too busy attempting to contain and corral raiding enemy aircraft. Field artillery of the III U.S. Corps was able to respond with deep fire of its own thanks to the Super Paladins' 100 kilometers range, and the PrSMs nearly 600 kilometers. Subsequently, the enemy responded with MGM-52 Lances, tipped with nuclear warheads, and strike fighter F-111s armed with large quantities of miniature anti-armor missiles.

In the largest winter defensive operation since the Battle of the Bulge, the U.S. Army engaged the incoming tank divisions with long-range artillery duels while M1A2Ds and M2A4s slugged it out with what appeared to be near identical counterparts. What the enemy lacked in close-range firepower, its howitzers and missiles made up for it, its willingness to "close the distance" with nuclear missiles was more than sufficient to level the playing field against the superior precision guided bombs of the U.S. Army.

However, having spent the better part of a decade training to fight in conditions of relative aerial and artillery inferiority, against mass formations of troops, such as the Chinese PLA, the U.S. Army was at a relative zenith compared to its alter-American counterpart, which apparently had been spending many years fighting a literally alien opponent. Rather than waiting, as it had in the Ardennes, for the enemy to attack: the U.S. Army surged against the tide. Field artillery, tagging closely behind the mechanized infantry and tanks, zipped into Wisconsin across the Minnesota state border. Motorized brigades of light infantry dotted the countryside, blocking the enemy's free movement at long range with guided missiles and thermal optic sniper rifles.

Evidently, the enemy was taken aback by the sudden aggressiveness of the Army, as formations began to falter against the American tank units. Their 105mm armed M1s were apparently unable to penetrate the thick frontal armor of the M1A2D, and the "short turret" tanks found themselves outmatched against the M829A4. Anti-tank missiles, such as the BGM-71D, and 90mm recoilless rifle rounds, were swatted out of the sky by the M1's Trophy APS. The only weapons the cavalrymen feared were the hypervelocity ATGMs and disposable HyLAWs of the enemy infantrymen, which could cut through the side turrets and frontal armor of the M1 regardless.

By May 20th, the Army had begun a major counter-offensive, as the enemy's offensive push died out. F-35s arriving from the Pacific replenished the losses sustained during the enemy's nuclear attack, and the mysterious foes began to retreat towards the UP, conducting a fighting withdrawal in the face of the advance of the III U.S. Corps and its three tank divisions.

POWs began to pour into camps in Nebraska, Idaho, and the Dakotas, evidently shell shocked that the U.S. Army still had any fighting spirit left. As it occurred to them that they might be left behind, they began to spill the beans.

The alter-Americans came from a world ravaged by ecological collapse. Development of world history was roughly similar until the mid 1980's, with similar threats: radical nationalism, genocide, and eventually nuclear war. The Cold War changed drastically when meteorites crashed into Soviet Kazakhstan and southern India. Initially unwilling to accept international assistance, the Soviets found that the meteor in the USSR had detonated in midair. Bolides recovered indicated that the meteor was less dense than Solar System NEOs and likely originated from an extra-solar origin.

The Indians were less fortunate. Having crashed in the disputed Kashmir region, the meteor "cracked like an egg" according to Indian Army troops, and a large, semi-organic spire emerged, burrowing itself under the ground. The Indian Air Force conducted a nuclear attack on the object, which had an unintended side effect. Rather than destroy the lifeform, it seemed to supercharge it and initiated a rapid replication of smaller creatures, budding off the sides of the spire like maggots. These creatures, appearing gelatinous but resistant to small arms and anti-tank ammunition, proceeded to move outwards in a spiral pattern, consuming all before them and leaving only barren land.

Within 20 years, despite the best efforts of the United Nations and the American and Soviet governments, the aliens had consumed the majority of Eurasia and Africa. Australia, South America, Madagascar, Great Britain, and North America were now home to the majority of the human population that survived. Large, biotechnological spires pumped out noxious fumes. Cyanide compounds leeched into the groundwater, displacing H2O with HCN, which the alter-American scientists hypothesized was the solvent used by extraterrestrial creators of the lifeforms. Dubbed "xenoforms", these beings, whose bodies were resistant to blast overpressure due to their semi-gelatinous forms, and absorbed most forms of radiation for autotrophic purposes, had begun transmuting much of the Earth into an alien xenoscape.

As a result, most industrial warfare technology had stagnated when the main impetus of war, competition between humans, had ended. All that mattered was the destruction of the xenoforms, thus weapons were evolved to defeat them. Over the next 50 years, the atmosphere had become dense and muggy, stinging the eyes of unexposed inhabitants, causing chemical burns on exposed skin and mucus membranes, and respiratory damage within a few hours. The smell of sulfur and garlic was inescapable, indicative of the release of hydrogen sulfide and telluride compounds from the Earth's mantle. The lakes and rivers began to take on blue hues, and smelled of almonds, while alien "plants" sprung up periodically, notably a red "grass" adorned much of the former Russian steppe. Much of the surviving human population, which had been cut down to a third of its 1984 height, lived in underground shelters, protected arcologies, or sealed habitats, and survived on algae and corn slurry.

Biological and theoretical sciences advanced greatly. Attempts were made to contact the aliens, to control them through engineered viruses, and to kill them with biological-chemical means. All failed, to varying degrees, as the aliens' biochemistries were adaptable and quickly responded to threats.

A new Manhattan Project was launched in the late 1990's and began using advanced resources and elements discovered in the alien "spires", which had been raided by mechanized combat troops periodically. This resulted in the first firing the "quantum gateway" in Jackass Flats, Nevada, in 2008. From there, a multi-decade operation to find Humanity a new home had begun. The quantum gateway would reject any matter which was not encapsulated in armor or projecting a tuned magnetic field, the characteristics of which that were determined by the control box and frequency settings would allow you to pass through the event horizon unharmed. Naturally, this could be turned off entirely to reject all matter without selectivity. Thus, humans could leave and the aliens would be incapable of following them. From there, they would be able to establish colonies using what industry they had left, before crossing over and closing the gateways for good.

This world was the first one they had come into contact with that could support human life, and the first tangible evidence that the quantum gateway was accessing alternate universes as opposed to extraterrestrial planets.

When pressed on the matter of why they had attacked the U.S. from the start, instead of simply coming over and asking for help, a few of the highest ranking POWs asked if the U.S. would be so generous if they'd known that the UP's population had been liquidated by the appearance of the event horizons. To this, few U.S. interrogators had much of an answer, but the question hung in the air. Without the vectronics boxes to traverse the gateways, it would be impossible for the U.S. Army to mount any sort of counter-offensive to take the fight to the enemy: any troops that attempted to cross over would be killed instantly without anyone knowing. Equally so, the enemy could, in the most desperate of situations, sit behind his impenetrable shield and sling cruise missiles, perhaps nuclear ones, through the gateway, without fear of retaliation.

Receiving this vital piece of intelligence changed the President and Joint Chiefs' operational plans for the war. The scientific principles behind the quantum gateways were poorly understood, even with the information gleaned from captured documents and POWs, and reverse engineering such a system was impossible. Even if it weren't, it was likely that the alter-Americans were using some form of frequency or transmission code that would allow them to cross through the event horizon, effectively the end of the universe, into another. Merely possessing the box would not ensure safe traversal, making a major ground offensive to the alien world impossible without the deliberate assistance of the enemy.

Additionally, with the reasoning of the initial invasion now becoming more clear: a war of total human survival against an incomprehensible and indefagitable alien foe, the desperation of the alter-American Army to break the U.S. Air Force and rapidly expand its beachhead became more obvious in context. This wasn't an invasion, rather it was an evacuation.

Moreover, the gateways would simply not disappear, even if the enemy had wanted them to, if they had turned off their machine. Or blown it up. Meaning that the alter-Americans would always be a threat. Unless...

On May 25th, with the arrival of several fresh squadrons of F-35s and F-15EX from the Pacific Air Forces, and several British RAF Typhoon and French Air Force Rafale squadrons, the U.S. Army began to push the enemy out of Wisconsin. In its wake, the alter-Americans left behind nearly two thousand destroyed trucks and fighting vehicles littering the fields, forests, highways, and towns of the state, and almost 10,000 POWs and 8,000 casualties. Conversely, U.S. Army casualties were a rather less paltry 200-odd fighting vehicles and 2,800 casualties, at similar ratios. III U.S. Corps was ordered to halt upon first sighting of a portal and contain the enemy within the UP, while the Congress and the President established communications with the alter-American government.

The alter-Americans, as it turned out, were led by a military junta headed by the Joint Chiefs, and considered equivalent to the United Nations Defense Council, the latter consisting of the UK, French Empire, Soviet Union, Japan, and the People's Republic of China. Despite this, the alternates agreed to hold talks on the potential of a ceasefire, and a conditional surrender. In exchange for the Upper Peninsula, the Alternates would provide scientific information about any subject they knew of: quantum gateways, xenoforms, and nuclear fusion were the most significant subjects. Further, they would agree to not transport weapons or military equipment across the gateway into our reality, and they would be required to submit a portion of manpower and industrial support to humanitarian relief efforts. Failure to abide by these conditions would initiate an immediate resumption of hostilities. Finally, after a period of 20 years, the UP would be declared an administrative territory of the United States of America, while the alter-Americans would be allowed to apply for U.S. citizenship, as would any other peoples who came over, and allowed free movement across the border. This was accepted unconditionally by the alternates.

With support from the Congress, the President announced a standdown from combat operations on May 28th. the DEFCON for all U.S. forces worldwide was raised to 2, and the President announced that a peaceful resolution had been found and that the war was over. In terms of actual combat operations, it had lasted only 12 days. Nearly 60,000 Americans had been killed, and almost 700,000 injured, the vast majority of these being civilians. While almost 10,000 Alternates were killed or wounded, and many examples of Alternate technology were captured, very little of it seemed to offer much in the way of new knowledge with the exception of the gateway technology.

By 2049, United States Extradimensional Territory (USET) Superior had a combined population of 16 million, making it one of the most densely populated regions in North America. Both the United States of America and Alternate America operated a joint command, the EXCCOMM (Extradimensional Combatant Command), and Los Alamos had constructed a prototype quantum gateway with input from Alter-American engineers. While EXCCOMM provided much needed manpower, the most important contribution was a working industrial base, with which to provide the equipment needed to destroy xenoforms. The newly built United States Arsenal Plants (USAP) Mobil and USAP Oxford provided special hazard suits and anti-armor shells explicitly for the purpose of destroying xenoforms.

On the civilian side, both General Electric and Toyota's Tesla Division, using the various atmospheric sequestration technologies developed by the Alternates, were able to manufacture high efficiency carbon sequestration systems and are on track to reduce global CO2 output into the negatives by 2053. Combined with nuclear energy and saltwater desalination plants, GE engineers were able to devise a fully fossil fuel independent hydrocarbon fuel chain for internal combustion vehicles, allowing the United States Army to continue using the gas turbine equipped M1A3 well into the 2070's and delay the switchover to an iron-combustion engine (FeC), as used in the Leopard 3A2, for several more decades.

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The image depicted shows a standard Alternate rifle squad, circa 2024, during Operation Azure Skies, the Alternate name for the invasion of the United States and our world. They are wearing black load bearing vests, mounting either the "samurai" pouches for the 4.92mm AICW or the standard pouches for six magazines of the .277" HVR (high velocity rifle) cartridge. The body armor is comprised of the PASGT and ISAPO overvest with boron carbide plates, and a ballistic ECH-style helmet with full gas protection. Their uniforms are sealed against ABC agents, constructed similar to MOPP suits with liners of activated charcoal, and provided with liquid cooling vests for keeping temperatures down. Their rifles are direct impingement rifles similar to the 82nd ABN division's RM277 rifle/automatic rifle, an M60E6-style light machine gun chambered in .277 HVR, and a 25mm manually operated grenade launcher similar to the failed OICW. An 84mm MAAWS is also included in the squad as an anti-armor weapon. Unlike the 82nd Airborne's automatic rifle, the Alternates' .277" AR is designed with a heavy barrel, bipod, and 60-round snail drum magazine, for sustained fire. The standard optic also differs from modern US Army, which uses FWS-I thermal weapon sights or L3Harris LRRWS-I laser ranged rifle sight: Elcan Spectres and ACOGs, more comparable to the U.S. Army or Marines from 20 years ago than modern formations. It is believed that this relative lack of fire control and laser rangefinders at squad level explains the somewhat archaic emphasis on sustained fire. Standard disposable anti-armor weapons at squad level are the M72 LAW using high penetration warheads (550mm RHA), with one or two per rifleman. The automatic pistol carried by the MAAWS gunner is an M1911A2 with polymer grip and holographic sight mounted on the slide.

The M69A2 "Bobson" MICV is unusual for an American vehicle, and not just in size. Compared to the M2A4 Bradley it is weaker in armament, mounting only a .50 caliber machine gun on the commander's gun station, with a PAS-13B heavy thermal weapon sight (HTWS). Two externally operated M60 machine guns adorn the rear troop compartment, which can be manned by the squad leader and the senior rifleman. With only two crewmen, the commander and driver, it is generally comparable to the M113 more than the M2, with a key difference: its heavy, tank-like armor. Built on the chassis of the M60A3 Patton main battle tank, the Bobson MICV grossed nearly 60 tons of protection, although its mobility was substantially more limited than the M1IP main battle tanks of the Alternates. The Bobson is powered by the same 8V92TIA as the American M8 MPF light tank used by the 82nd Airborne Division.

Onboard this particular vehicle are a large flag of the "Bippah" (Bass Pro Arcology Habitat, BPAH), a city-state arcology in the Alternate United States in the former city of Memphis, TN; and a small Alternate American flag on one of the whip antennae. Stowage of the riflemen's equipment, several boxes of MREs and jugs of water, spare track, sleeping bags, and various recreational devices. A stolen beach umbrella protects the crew from the sun when turned out on their vehicle. A tow cable and several tool hooks sit on the mid-hull. Boxes of 7.62mm ammunition are placed by the M60 pintle mounts, while smoke grenade reloads are carried next to the launchers, above the bustle rack and immediately fore the top hatch. A single mount .50 cal is on the front. 600 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition, including 100 in the gun, are carried onboard, and at least 4,800 rounds of M60 ammo (including the 8 boxes in the pintle ready racks) is stored in 200-round cans in the vehicle. The crew is armed with either M1911A2 pistols (driver) or M3A1 Grease Guns (TC), both in .45 ACP. Tools on the side include the 60" prybar, as used on the M1(PI); a 36" shovel; and a wood axe. A de-ditching log has been strapped to the rear of the vehicle.

Although easily recognized due to its large acoustic signature (the high pitched squeaking of the T142 series track could be heard before the engine), American troops found it difficult to defeat with the standard M136 and MAAWS anti-armor projectors, and even Javelin -Fs and Bradley TOWs had some some difficulty in disabling the vehicle, especially if the former were fired on a direct attack mode. Despite its excellent armor protection and great size, it carries only as many troops as the Bradley, which means that each Alternate platoon comprises three rifle squads carried in four vehicles, the same as the U.S. Army's armored brigades. In practice, riflemen tended to ride on both the roof of the vehicle and inside, allowing one vehicle to act as a weapons team carrier for additional machine guns or anti-armor weapons (84mm MAAWS).

As the standard anti-armor weapon of the Alternates is the FGM-77E Dragon V (a high speed, short-range anti-armor weapon comparable to the French-Canadian ERYX and ultimately derived from the FGM-77C Dragon III), the lack of TOW missiles, Javelins, and 25mm cannons within the mechanized infantry squad put the Alternates at a marked disadvantage against American heavy brigades and their much denser quantity (and superior quality) of anti-tank weapons.

tl;dr Happe Crumbledag.

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